(35) But now when he does thus commit Sins, yet he commits them not in the new Man; but the old [Man] in Sin, who is subjected under Sin, who is in the Anger of God; he is driven by the Anger, so that he does not always that which is right; and if he does any Thing that is good, yet he does it out of his own Will and Ability, but the new Man compels him to it, that he must do it; for the old [Man] is corruptible, but the Soul is incorruptible; and therefore the poor Soul is always in Strife, and sticks between the Door and the Hinges, and must be often pinched and bruised.

(16) Again, when we read of the old man and the new man we must mark what that meaneth. The old man is Adam and disobedience, the Self, the Me, and so forth. But the new man is Christ and true obedience, a giving up and denying oneself of all temporal things, and seeking the honour of God alone in all things. And when dying and perishing and the like are spoken of, it meaneth that the old man should be destroyed, and not seek its own either in spiritual or in natural things. For where this is brought about in a true divine light, there the new man is born again. In like manner, it hath been said that man should die unto himself, that is, to earthly pleasures, consolations, joys, appetites, the I, the Self, and all that is thereof in man, to which he clingeth and on which he is yet leaning with content, and thinketh much of. Whether it be the man himself, or any other creature, whatever it be, it must depart and die, if the man is to be brought aright to another mind, according to the truth. Thereunto doth St. Paul exhort us, saying: “Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts: . . . and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”17 Now he who liveth to himself after the old man, is called and is truly a child of Adam; and though he may give diligence to the ordering of his life, he is still the child and brother of the Evil Spirit. But he who liveth in humble obedience and in the new man which is Christ, he is, in like manner, the brother of Christ and the child of God. Behold! where the old man dieth and the new man is born, there is that second birth of which Christ saith, “Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”18 Likewise St. Paul saith, “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”19 That is to say, all who follow Adam in pride, in lust of the flesh, and in disobedience, are dead in soul, and never will or can be made alive but in Christ.

(36) But yet we do not say, that Sin in the old Man is no Hurt; though indeed it cannot sway the new Man, yet it gives Offence; and we must with the new Man live to God [and serve him,] though it is not possible to be perfect in this World, yet we must continually go on and hold out; and the new Man is in a Field, where the Ground is cold, bitter, sour, and void of Life.

(25) And so it was tried for a long Time, whether it were possible that Man should be recovered this Way, so that he might yield himself wholly to God, that the Soul might be born in the Word, and at last stand before God; yet all was in vain, the kindled Soul could not stand, but there came to be Man-slayers and Murderers, also self-willed People, in mere Lechery and Unchastity of the Flesh; also aspiring in State, Pride, and Domineering, according to the Regimen of the Stars and Elements, that drives the Body and the Soul of Man at all Times; and there were but few that did cleave to the Word of God.

(57) Seeing then out of this unrighteous People, there should an Host [or Generation] be born to the Kingdom of Heaven, and seeing none lived upon Earth that was not defiled with this Wickedness, and yet that in the Love of God there was a Possibility found [that such (who are sorry and grieved at this forementioned evil Beast, and desire to go out from it) might come to the Grace of God, and yet no otherwise but in this Christ; and yet that it is daily found among the regenerated Christians, that the old earthly Body is so kindled in such Wickedness, and that (although they would fain go out from it and leave it quite) yet they cannot, for the Anger holds us captive in the old Man, and the Devil is Lord therein, who drives the Body (in the Spirit of this World) often into Evil and Wickedness, which Man intended not to do, for the Wickedness of the Ungodly (by his Cursing and Falshood) kindles the Anger of the old Man, and although he be inwardly [new] born in God, yet it is not known, therefore (seeing our Falshood and Unrighteousness, as also our Offences are manifested before God, and appear in the Tincture, and that we could not [otherwise] be freed from such Evil) Christ has taken upon him all our Transgressions.

(87) Therefore must Christ now (after the Baptism) be tempted; and he was set against the Kingdom of the fierce Wrath, to see whether this [second] Adam, thus new prepared, could stand in the new and old Man, with the half new born and washed Soul, and set his Imagination upon God, and eat of the Word of the Lord. And there it was tried whether the Soul would press in to God, or into the Spirit of this World again.

(99) Therefore they shall be wanting in doctrine and wisdom, And they shall perish thereby together with their possessions; And with all their glory and their splendour, And in shame and in slaughter and in great destitution, Their spirits shall be cast into the furnace of fire.

(4) ¶Christ's sayings complete, brought into a sequence of times and occasions, but lifted out of contexts alien to the present purpose, may prove to be a glowing story new not only to the non-reader, but new even to the whilom New-Testament readers who have not as yet discerned the "continuities."

(1) It came to pass, when Jesus had finished saying these words unto his disciples, that he said unto them: "Who is sober among you, let him proclaim their solution." James came forward, kissed the breast of Jesus and said: "My Lord, thy spirit hath sobered me, and I am ready to proclaim their solution. Concerning them indeed thy power hath prophesied aforetime through David in the thirty-fourth Psalm, saying thus concerning the ninth repentance of Pistis Sophia: "'1. Give sentence, O Lord, on them who do me injustice, and fight against them who fight against me. "'2. Lay hand on weapon and shield and stand up to help me. "'3. Draw forth a sword and conceal it [ sic ] from my oppressors. Say unto my soul: I am thy salvation. "'4. Let them be put to shame and abashed who strive after my soul; let them fall back and be put to shame who imagine evil against me. "'5. Let them be as chaff before the wind, and let the angel of the Lord pursue after them. "'6. Let their way be darkness and slippery, and let the angel of the Lord oppress them. "'7. For without cause have they hid a snare for me for their own spoiling, and they have mocked at my soul in vain. "'8. Let a snare come upon them which they know not, and let the net which they have hid for me, catch them, and let them fall into this snare. "'9. But my soul will exult in the Lord and rejoice in its salvation. "'10. All my bones shall say: O Lord, who can be like unto thee?--thou who settest free the wretched from the hand of him who is stronger than him; and thou savest a wretched and poor [one] from the hands of them who spoil him. "11. Unjust witnesses came forward and have asked me that which I knew not. "'12. They have requited me evil for good and childlessness for my soul. "13. But when they molested me, I clothed me in a sack and humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer will return into my breast. "'14. I was pleasing unto thee, as unto my neighbour and as unto my brother; and I humbled myself as one in mourning and as one who is sad. "'15. They have rejoiced over me, and they are put to shame. Scourges have gathered themselves together against me and I knew not; they were cut off and were troubled. "'16. They have brought me to trial and mocked me with mocking; they have ground their teeth against me. "'17. O Lord, when wilt thou look upon me? Restore again my soul from their evil works and save my only one from the hands of the lions. "'18. I will confess to thee, O Lord, in the great assembly, and I will sing praises to thee in the midst of a countless people. "'19. Let not them who unjustly treat me as a foe, rejoice over me, who hate me without a cause and wink with their eyes. "'20. For indeed they discourse with me with words of peace, though they plot wrath with craft. "'21. They opened their chops wide against me and said: Well indeed, our eyes have filled our sight with him. "'22. Thou hast seen, O Lord. Keep not silence, O Lord, withdraw not thyself from me. "'23. Arise, O Lord, and give heed to my vindication, give heed to my vengeance, my God and my Lord. "'24. Judge me, O Lord, according to thy justice; let them not rejoice over me, my God. "'25. And let them not say: Well done, our soul. Let them not say: We have consumed him. "'26. Let them be put to shame and be scorned, who rejoice at my mischance. Let them be clothed with shame and disgrace who speak boastingly against me. "'27. Let them who desire my justification, exult and rejoice and let them who desire the peace of his slave, say: May the Lord be great and arise. "'28. My tongue will exult over thy justification and over thy honour all the day long.'"

(3) And therefore whoso were reformed by grace thus to continue in keeping of the stirrings of his will, should never be in this life—as he may not be without these stirrings in nature—without some taste of the endless sweetness, and in the bliss of heaven without the full food. And therefore have no wonder though I stir thee to this work. For this is the work, as thou shalt hear afterward, in the which man should have continued if he never had sinned: and to the which working man was made, and all things for man, to help him and further him thereto, and by the which working a man shall be repaired again. And for the defailing of this working, a man falleth evermore deeper and deeper in sin, and further and further from God. And by keeping and continual working in this work only without more, a man evermore riseth higher and higher from sin, and nearer and nearer unto God.

(41) Therefore in this World all Things are given into Man's Power, because he is an eternal Spirit, and all other Creatures [are] no other than a Figure in the Wonders of God; and therefore Man ought well to consider himself, what he speaks, does, and purposes, in this World; for all his Works follow after him, and he has them eternally before his Eyes, and lives in them. Except it be, that he is again new regenerated out of Evil and Falshood, through the Blood and Death of Christ, in the Water and the Holy Spirit, and then he breaks forth out of the hellish and earthly Image, into an angelical [Image,] and comes into another Kingdom, into which its Untowardness [or Vices] cannot follow, and that [Untowardness, Contrariety, or Vice] is drowned in the Blood of Christ, and the Image of God is renewed out of the earthly and hellish.

(9) Do not expect, therefore, the carnal resurrection, which is destruction; and they are not stripped of it (the flesh) who err in expecting a resurrection that is empty. They do not know the power of God, nor do they understand the interpretation of the scriptures, on account of their double-mindedness. The mystery which the Son of Man spoke about, [...], in order that [...] destroy ... ... (2 lines unrecoverable) ... man who [...] book, which is written [...] for they have ... ... (1 line unrecoverable) ... blessed [...] within them, and they dwell before God under the light yoke. Those who do not have the life-giving word in their heart will die; and in their thought they have become manifest to the Son of Man, according to the manner of their activity and their error [...] of this sort. They [...] as he divides the [...], and they do not understand that the Son of Man is coming from him.

(34) And as the Soul of Adam hung between two evil Kingdoms, between the Kingdom of this World, and the Kingdom of Hell, so Christ hung on the Cross between two Murderers; Parted asunder, or broken. and thus Christ must restore again all that Adam had lost. And as the one Malefactor turned and desired to be with Christ in his Kingdom, so the one Kingdom, viz. the earthly Man, must also turn again, and the poor Soul must enter into Christ again, through the earthly Death, and spring up again, like this Murderer, [Thief, or Malefactor,] on the Cross, who desired the Kingdom of Christ.

(64) But if any will be new born again, he must not yield himself to be a servant to covetousness, pride, state and self-power, to take delight in the will or desires of his flesh; but he must struggle and fight against himself, against the devil, and against all the lusts of the flesh; and he must think and consider that he is but a servant and pilgrim on earth, who must wander through many miserable seas of danger into another world; and there he will be a lord, and his dominion will consist in power, and in perfect delight, beauty and brightness; this I tell as the word of the spirit. Now observe:

(56) This signifieth that the heart of God had a loathing against the corruption, and so thrust away the corrupted being from himself, but laid hold on it again in the midst or centre at the heart.

(3) For as all men were lost in Adam and all men that with work will witness their will of salvation are saved or shall be by virtue of the Passion of only Christ: not in the same manner, but as it were in the same manner, a soul that is perfectly disposed to this work, and oned thus to God in spirit as the proof of this work witnesseth, doth that in it is to make all men as perfect in this work as itself is. For right as if a limb of our body feeleth sore, all the tother limbs be pained and diseased therefore, or if a limb fare well, all the remnant be gladded therewith—right so is it ghostly of all the limbs of Holy Church. For Christ is our head, and we be the limbs if we be in charity: and whoso will be a perfect disciple of our Lord’s, him behoveth strain up his spirit in this work ghostly, for the salvation of all his brethren and sisters in nature, as our Lord did His body on the Cross. And how? Not only for His friends and His kin and His homely lovers, but generally for all mankind, without any special beholding more to one than to another. For all that will leave sin and ask mercy shall be saved through the virtue of His Passion. And as it is said of meekness and charity, so it is to be understood of all other virtues. For all they be truly comprehended in this little pressing of love, touched before.

(12) But if thou leavest them off, and passest with the Desire of thy Heart into the Mercy of God, then thou goest into Heaven, into God the Father, and thou walkest in the Body of Christ in the pure Element; and the Holy Ghost goes forth out of thy Soul, and leads thee into all Truth; and the old corrupt Man does but hang to thee, which thou shalt destroy in Death, and with thy Love in Christ still overcome, and captivate the Anger of the Father in thy Soul; and thou shalt spring up with thy new Man through Death, and appear in the same at the last Judgment-Day. The Gate to Babel.

(10) But when they have come up to [...] sacrifice, they die in a human way, and they deliver themselves ... ... (2 lines unrecoverable) ... a death ... ... (3 lines unrecoverable) ... those who [...], they are many [...], each one [...] pervert [...] gain [...] their mind. Those who receive him to themselves with uprightness and power and every knowledge are the ones whom he will transfer to the heights, unto life eternal.

(40) And therefore it is that Christ made two Testaments, the one in the Water of the eternal Life, and the other in his Body and Blood; that (whensoever the poor Soul should be defiled again by the Devil) it might yet in the other enter into the Body of Christ again; and if it turns with Sorrow for its Sins, and puts its Trust in the Mercy of God again, then it steps again into the first Covenant, and then it may come to the other Testament, and draw near to God, and then it will be received again with Joy; as Christ says, That there is more Joy in Heaven for one poor Sinner that repenteth, than for ninety and nine Righteous that need no Repentance.

(2) Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed and delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and he shall be spitefully entreated and spitted on; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him unto the Gentiles.